In a wide-ranging interview, ITR speaks to Terri LaRae, partner and leader of the global operations transformation tax team at Deloitte, about the factors driving tax transformation and how tax departments can get the best out of it.

The appointment of Edward Kieswetter as the new Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (SARS) was announced at the end of March 2019.

A number of proposed tax changes were highlighted in documents released as part of South Africa's annual budget on February 20 2019. The draft legislation dealing with these will only be released for comment later in the year, but some of the key takeaways have been highlighted below.

Several key rulings clarify the taxation of cross-border payments as royalties with respect to ‘information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific experience’, say S Vasudevan, Prachi Bhardwaj, and Prakhar Pandey of Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan

Kelvin Yuen and Suhani Mehra of DLA Piper Australia examine a Full Federal Court decision denying deductions for undocumented intragroup service fees, and the risks of relying on inferred contracts in related-party transactions

Paul Ashburn, Radapak Arthapridi, and Anna Selina De Vera of HLB Thailand explain how the update to the Commentary on Article 5 clarifies when employees’ homes may create a taxable permanent establishment in the country

Michael Cedercrantz of Skeppsbron Skatt comments on the expected update of Chapter VII of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines and the introduction of the high value-adding services concept

The country is in transition as decades of emigration, increasing immigration, and the Ukraine conflict create new economic risks and opportunities, say Corina Mîndoiu and Iulian Pasniciuc of EY Romania

Federico Vincenti and Carola Valente Della Rovere of Valente Associati GEB Partners/Crowe Valente analyse how intragroup software distribution transactions are classified and transfer pricing methods applied, focusing on the interaction between OECD guidance, Italian legislation, and case law

Rodrigo Winter of PwC Chile outlines the expected effects of the government’s proposal aimed at reviving a residential real estate sector weakened by years of stagnation

Sandra Benedetto and Paula Campusano of PwC Chile analyse recent Chilean Internal Revenue Service rulings that adopt a new methodology compared with the criteria set in previous administrative instructions

Gabriel Caldiron Rezende of Machado Associados comments on the latest developments related to the beginning of the Brazilian consumption tax reform test phase and considers the next steps

Sal Visca of Vertex explains why tax professionals and authorities must evolve to keep pace with developments such as AI-executed transactions and real-time reporting

Chris Hall of Vertex explains how e-invoicing is becoming essential for multinational businesses, enabling compliance, operational efficiency, and friction-free participation in global trade amid increasingly digital tax regimes

Bernardo Mesquita of Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados examines how AI can enhance tax administration efficiency while raising significant transparency, accountability, and taxpayer-rights concerns that governments must address